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Cardiovascular diseases in Africa in the twenty-first century: Gaps and priorities going forward

Minja, N.W.; Nakagaayi, D.; Aliku, T. et al. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (2022) CC

In 2015, the United Nations set important targets to reduce premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths by 33% by 2030. Africa disproportionately bears the brunt of CVD burden and has one of the highest risks of dying from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide. There is currently an epide ... miological transition on the continent, where NCDs is projected to outpace communicable diseases within the current decade. Unchecked increases in CVD risk factors have contributed to the growing burden of three major CVDs—hypertension, cardiomyopathies, and atherosclerotic diseasesleading to devastating rates of stroke and heart failure. The highest age standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to hypertensive heart disease (HHD) were recorded in Africa. The contributory causes of heart failure are changing—whilst HHD and cardiomyopathies still dominate, ischemic heart disease is rapidly becoming a significant contributor, whilst rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has shown a gradual decline. In a continent where health systems are traditionally geared toward addressing communicable diseases, several gaps exist to adequately meet the growing demand imposed by CVDs. Among these, high-quality research to inform interventions, underfunded health systems with high out-of-pocket costs, limited accessibility and affordability of essential medicines, CVD preventive services, and skill shortages. Overall, the African continent progress toward a third reduction in premature mortality come 2030 is lagging behind. More can be done in the arena of effective policy implementation for risk factor reduction and CVD prevention, increasing health financing and focusing on strengthening primary health care services for prevention and treatment of CVDs, whilst ensuring availability and affordability of quality medicines. Further, investing in systematic country data collection and research outputs will improve the accuracy of the burden of disease data and inform policy adoption on interventions. This review summarizes the current CVD burden, important gaps in cardiovascular medicine in Africa, and further highlights priority areas where efforts could be intensified in the next decade with potential to improve the current rate of progress toward achieving a 33% reduction in CVD mortality. more

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Delivery of cardiology services in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: what should we expect after this pandemic?

Nganou-Gnindjio, C.N.; Temgoua, M.N.; Kuate, L.M. et al. (2021) CC

Background: COVID-19 is a global public health crisis that affects all sectors; studying the impact of this pandemic on the delivery of cardiology services in Africa is crucial as COVID-19-related cardiovascular complications may worsen the CVD burden in this already highly affected and resource-lim ... more

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Effectiveness of community health worker training programmes for cardiovascular disease management in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Abdel-All, M; Putica, B.; Praveen, D. et al. BMJ Open (2017) CC

Introduction Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly being tasked to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors in underserved populations in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs); however, little is known about the required training necessary for them to ... more

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Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Failure in Diabetes

Park, J.J. Diabetes & Metabolism Journal (2021) CC

The cardiovascular disease continuum begins with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (DM), progresses to vasculopathy and myocardial dysfunction, and finally ends with cardiovascular death. Diabetes is associated with a 2- to 4-fold increased risk for heart failure (HF). Moreover, HF patients wit ... more

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Community-Based Mental Health: A Training Guide for Community Providers

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies IFRC (2023) CC

Mental health problems are common and cause great suffering to individuals and communities around the world. They have a significant impact not only on the physical and mental health of those affected but also on their families and the communities they live in. At the same time, all communities have ... more

The Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk: A Compass for Future Health

Vaduganathan, M.; Mensah, G.A.; Turco, J.V. et al. Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2022) CC

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have collectively remained the leading causes of death worldwide and substantially contribute to loss of health and excess health system costs. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study has tracked trends in death and disability since 1990 a ... more

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Prevention and management of CVD in LMICs: why do ethnicity, culture, and context matter?

Anand, S.; Bradshaw, C.; Prabhakaran, D. BMC Medicine (2020) CC

Background Low- and middle-income countries now experience the highest prevalence and mortality rates of cardiovascular disease. Main text While improving the availability and delivery of proven, effective therapies will no doubt mitigate this burden, we posit that studies evaluating cardiovasc ... more

Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats Module 1: Planning for respiratory pathogen pandemics

World Health Organization WHO (2024) C_WHO

Through technical consultations with countries and partners, WHO has led the development of Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats Module 1: Planning for respiratory pathogen pandemics. Version 1.0. The Module, currently available as an advanced draft, builds on previous pandemic lessons a ... more

Global air pollution exposure and poverty

Rentschler, J.; Leonova, N. Nature Communications (2023) CC

Air pollution is one of the leading causes of health complications and mortality worldwide, especially affecting lower-income groups, who tend to be more exposed and vulnerable. This study documents the relationship between ambient air pollution exposure and poverty in 211 countries and territories. ... more

Intention to action series: Regional reflections. Analysis from informal regional consultations with people living with noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions 2023 WHO

World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

This report includes analysis from informal regional consultations in the African Region, the Caribbean and North America, Latin America, South-East Asia Region, European Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, alongside three forums in the Western Pacific Region. It analyses the overarching similarit ... more

Serie «de la intención a la acción»: Reflexiones regionales. Análisis de las consultas regionales informales con personas que viven con enfermedades no transmisibles y trastornos mentales 2023

World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

El presente informe incluye análisis de consultas informales en cinco de las regiones de la OMS: la Región de África, la Región de las Américas (donde se realizaron consultas separadas para el Caribe y América del Norte, y para América Latina), la Región de Asia Sudoriental, la Región de Eu ... more

International study of asthma and allergies in childhood (ISAAC): rationale and methods

Asher, M.I.; Keil, U.; Anderson, H.R. European Respiratory Journal (1995) CC

he aetiology of asthma and allergic disease remains poorly understood, despite considerable research. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), was founded to maximize the value of epidemiological research into asthma and allergic disease, by establishing a standardized m ... more

Proposed Strategies to Improve Adult Asthma Management in Egypt: Expert Review and Recommendations

Hosny, H.; Madkour, A.; Hantera, M.; et al. (2022) CC2

Several challenges face asthma management in Egypt, including the high percentage of uncontrolled patients, inadequate compliance, and overuse of short-acting beta-agonists (SABAs) leading to increased asthma-related morbidity and mortality. In this regard, the recent Global Initiative for Asthma (G ... more

Integrated operational framework for mental health, brain health and substance use

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2024) C_WHO

This integrated operational framework provides an overview of the connections between mental health, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions, and their links to health, well-being and the broader public health and sustainable development agenda. The need for integrated approaches is increasi ... more

Preventing HIV misdiagnosis: implementation guide

World Health Organization WHO (2024) CC

HIV testing programmes need to ensure that all clients who test for HIV are provided with correct diagnoses. The accuracy of HIV testing is critical to prevent misdiagnosis, as the consequences of giving an incorrect test result can be serious for clients, HIV testing services, HIV programmes and pu ... more